WBAI News and Free Speech Radio News reporter
Miranda Kennedy reported the following tonight, via cell phone,
from the hallways of WBAI (the station is on the 10th floor at
120 Wall St.; please excuse any misspellings and omitted last
names; arraingment info at bottom):

At roughly 5:30 p.m., about 40-50 peopled
gathered in the downstairs lobby of 120 Wall St.--listeners and
local advisory board members--who were trying to go upstairs to
the station to hold a scheduled meeting. (Please see release below
for background). There was a restricted list on the ground-floor
lobby of the building today; only producers with programs were
allowed in.

WBAI's interim general manager Utrice Leid
then allowed Joanne Bob, chair of the LAB, to go upstairs and
act as go-between. She negotiated with Leid, and apparently the
demands of the board were also read to Leid. The demands included
the right to hold the meeting at the station--a 25-year tradition--and
to preserve the public-comment period which naturally included
listeners. It had apparently been decided in advance that if both
LAB members and listeners could not enter, no one would go in,
which is what Bob told Leid. Leid then allowed only board members
up. Leid said it couldn't be a public meeting because too many
people created a fire hazard (this seems to contradict Leid's
former statements about equipment-safety threats--see below).
More negotiations ensued. Two women, both in wheel chairs--one
now on the LAB, one formerly on the board--managed to get upstairs
before anyone else. These two women had had some kind of altercation
with Leid. They announced they were there for the meeting. They
say Leid claimed she hadn't been told about the meeting, that
she didn't have enough notice, that Leid only knew about it when
she received a fax yesterday. The two women said Leid had been
sent a certified letter 2 weeks ago regarding the LAB meeting
at the station.

There were, at the start, 5 security men
outside the door of the station on the 10th floor, as well as
building security people downstairs, including the building's
owner. NYPD were at first stationed downstairs, but they came
up later--roughly 10 officers were inside the station. Later on,
when things heated up, more arrived, for about a total of at least
20 officers in various locations.

At this point, Leid allowed a select group
upstairs--board members (there are 20 in all), media, legal observers,
listeners. The group came up in 3 elevator rides. She spoke to
them outside the station. But once assembled on the 10th floor,
Leid again said only board members could enter. She insisted she
was not locking anyone out, that she never wanted to lock anyone
out, and again invoked the fire-hazard dilemma.

People shouted and chanted for some time
in the hallway: WHO'S STATION, OUR STATION, and the situation
appeared quite tense.

At 8:00 p.m. the group was still negotiating,
when Leid also said she wouldn't let the listeners in because
there was a *banned person* among them. The culprit? Janice K.
Bryant. When asked again why Bryant was banned several weeks ago,
Leid was characteristically silent.

Another long-time community activist also
had an altercation with Leid. There was yelling and supposedly
name calling. This activist was then banned from the station--whether
for the night or indefinitely, it wasn't clear. Leid once again
vanished inside the station.

Then, with one security guard at the door,
listeners tried to open the door of the station. At that point
the NYPD came upstairs. Downstairs, there was still a sizable
crowd in the lobby. The building owner then announced that those
in the lobby had to leave because they were trespassing. Then
more NYPD arrived. There were now a line of roughly 20 officers
in the lobby of the building. All were cleared from the lobby,
and the chanting continued outside in the street.

Then Leid came out a second time. The NYPD
went into the station, spoke to Leid and one officer came out
and spoke with members of the board. He said just the board could
go in, and hold the meeting for one hour. And the door was opened.

Bruce Bentley then arrived from the National
Lawyers Guild, with an update from the owner of the building,
who said the owner would call the police, and charge anyone on
the 10th floor with trespass and arrest if they stayed.

At one point, according to Kennedy, a community
activist and listener tried to enter the station and was pushed
against the wall by a WBAI staffer. Everyone on the 10th floor
was forced to disperse. As of this writing, 10:30 p.m., 9 people
refused to leave and were in the process of being arrested. The
two women in wheel chairs refused to leave as well, but the NYPD
refused to arrest them. Miguel Maldonado and Vincente Panama Alba
were two LAB members among those arrested. Roughly 50 supporters
outside the station remained on hand.

Arraignments will take place tomorrow between
11 a.m. and 11 p.m. at 100 Centre St., lower Manhattan. Please
come to support those arrested and spread the word. A Report to
the Listener is scheduled for tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., 99.5 FM,
streamed at www.wbai.org.